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Next time you hit a wrong note while singing in the shower blame it on your genes.

New research published today in the journal, Molecular Psychiatry, suggests our musical abilities may be determined by our DNA.

The research team, led by Adjunct Professor Irma Jarvela of the University of Helsinki in Finland, found musical aptitude is affected by several genes that detect and interpret sounds.

Researchers took blood samples from 767 people from 76 families, ranging in age from seven to 94 years. Some families had a strong musical tradition, boasting several professional players.

Jarvela and her colleagues unravelled the genetic code from the samples and carried out a comparison between the volunteers, looking for variants in their DNA.

They also asked the volunteers to do three musical tests. The guinea pigs were asked to distinguish between notes that had slightly different tones and durations, and to identify sequences of notes that were subtly different from each other.

Among those who performed well in these tests, the big standout was tiny but significant differences in several genes located on Chromosome 4 which help determine how we hear and perceive sound.

One variant lies on a gene called GATA2, which is important for the hair cells in the inner ear. The delicate fibres on these cells move in response to different frequencies and transmit a signal through the auditory nerve to the brain.

Another telltale variant was found in a gene called PCDH7, which plays an important role in a part of the brain called the amygdala - believed to be the driver for how we transform sounds into patterns.

Part of the answer

These are only a few of what is likely to be a bigger gene haul, but in any case DNA goes only part-way to explaining musical ability, the authors say.

According to a common theory, musical aptitude has a "primary" component - the physical ability to distinguish tones and sequences - and this is a prerequisite to a "secondary" component, the skill to play, which is dependent on one's culture and environment.

"Musical aptitude is a complex behavioural trait," Jarvela writes, stressing the team's experiments "account for only a part" of it.

"Environmental factors, such as the childhood musical environment, the example set by parents and siblings, and music education affect musical abilities," she adds.

The researchers say they plan to examine the interplay of these effects in more detail through data collected from the families via a questionnaire and from individual DNA information.